


Run Your Mouth

by love_killed_the_superstar



Series: But Beautiful We Three Are [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas Eve, Coming Out, F/F, Gen, Internalized Homophobia, Love Confessions, Self-Acceptance, also pearl smokes because she thinks she's badass, and i promise it will actually get more cheerful after this one, and may have picked up the habit from rose, but finally FINALLY there is mention of polypearls, pearlshipping bomb, polypearls, polypearls bomb, so once again pearl is in conflict with her pearlfriends, this time yellow is the one to sort shit out and she has a bad mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 15:10:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7392400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>3. Yellow wasn't sure what exactly she or Blue had done to warrant Pearl ignoring them the way she had been for the past two weeks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Run Your Mouth

**Author's Note:**

> god this one is just angst after angst (with a happy, anticlimactic resolution). and it somehow became almost twice the length of the other fics in the collection but once the words came pouring they just couldn't stop, even when i tried editing around it the wordcount was still just shy of 3000  
> (please listen to 'bye and stuff' from the scott pilgrim original score for the ultimate ambience with this one)  
> so i promise this is the last in the angst category. after this it'll just be polypearls fluff through and through  
> oh and ps yellow has a right potty mouth you've been warned she swears frequently

Yellow wasn't sure what exactly she or Blue had done to warrant Pearl ignoring them the way she had been for the past two weeks. She'd expected third year for Pearl to be more exciting, since she could finally join Blue and Yellow on their trips to Hogsmeade and stock up on the candy from Honeydukes that she loved so much, and it had been at first, but now she'd suddenly stopped talking to them and wasn't giving any indication as to why.

Thinking back, Yellow couldn't pinpoint anything that either her or Blue had done that could have sparked such an extreme reaction, but it was beginning to really piss her off, especially since she knew this would only push Pearl closer to Rose fucking Quartz and the Crystal fucking Gems. Fuck. Asking outright, “What have I done that could make you hate us this much?” wasn't an option for Yellow, because she _knew_ she wasn't wrong and Pearl was clearly the one acting out here. Blue had already tried to apologise for whatever it was that they'd done wrong, but it failed to evoke a response from Pearl, who finished checking out the book she had been reading in the library and booked it the hell out of there. Fantastic. A truly stirring response.

The awkward part was that their families were spending Christmas together abroad this year to visit Yellow's grandparents in Belarus, so Blue, Yellow and Pearl had opted to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas this year under the impression that they would still be friends by the time December rolled around. Instead, as Yellow watched the other Slytherins packing up their cases ready to return home on the 18th, nobody was talking to anybody and she wasn't sure how she could endure Pearl giving them the silent treatment for another day, let alone the remainder of the year.

Later that evening, when everyone had gone home besides the few who were staying on for the holidays, Yellow met with Blue and they sat, for once, at the same table. (Apparently the professors had decided to free up space for the Christmas decorations this year by packing up the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, so the remaining students were free to mingle as they pleased, houses be damned.) Pearl sat at the far end, nose buried in a book as usual, and the very sight made Yellow's blood boil.

“Why is she so mad at us?” she hissed to Blue, who simply shrugged, glancing over at Pearl worriedly. “We've done nothing to piss her off, but ever since we came back from Hogsmeade that time she's been completely blanking us!”

“I don't know. I mean, she told us to go ahead anyway since she had an essay to finish... but she didn't seem bitter about it when we left... I just don't know, Yellow.” Blue turned back to her dinner and sighed in resignation. “She doesn't want to talk to us, she's made that clear. Maybe Rose has finally succeeded in turning her against us.”

“That's absurd,” Yellow said bluntly. “Rose Quartz might be a greedy Gryffindor bitch after Pearl's heart, but I still don't believe Pearl would full on reject us just because Rose wants her to start duelling full time.”

“Well, how do you explain it then?” Blue asked, frustrated. “Face it, she doesn't seem interested in us anymore. I knew the year gap would be troublesome, but-”

“I'm going to talk to her, because this is bullshit and I'm sick of it,” Yellow snarled, rising to her feet. She marched across the hall with purpose, almost shoving a first year aside in her single-minded mission. Yellow stopped just a few feet from Pearl, and cleared her throat. Pearl's head shot up, then her eyes narrowed when she saw who was speaking to her, and she went to turn back to her book once more.

“Don't you dare,” snapped Yellow. “At least tell us why. We haven't done anything to you, so why the hell are you ignoring us, huh?”

“I don't have anything to say to you,” Pearl said quietly, voice laced with stony anger, and she stood up. “Just leave me alone.”

“What the fuck is your problem?!” Yellow was beyond frustrated, and now people were beginning to stare. “You're so pathetic, just tiptoeing around us and refusing to say a word! I hate it when you get like this! We haven't done anything, so whatever you're having a tantrum about, just drop it already!”

“You guys,” Blue said warningly, standing up, but Pearl shattered the silence.

“You know what you did! What both of you did! And you thought I'd never find out!”

Yellow stopped, stared. Her cheeks heated up as one memory in particular stood out.

_Hogsmeade, powder snow on the ground. Her and Blue, walking back towards Hogwarts, hand in hand. Peeking around, making sure they were alone. Laughing, joking, their heads getting closer and closer together until finally..._

She squeaked out, “You... you saw that?”

_It had only been a chaste kiss, short and simple, but it had left both of them blushing and giddy, wondering what it meant, wondering what they were now, because things were different, the before and the after so clearly defined by that simple moment._

Pearl's face was flushed with anger, cheeks and nose dusted rouge, and Yellow realised her eyes were swimming with barely contained tears.

“You thought I wouldn't find out your little secret? You thought you could just pretend it never happened when you saw me next, and just carry on like nothing had changed?! Well, screw you!” Pearl clutched her book to her chest, knuckles white, and choked out, “I'm not doing this here. Just leave me alone.”

_In the end, it was best to keep it between the two of them. At least, until they knew what they were and how to define it._

“Pearl, wait,” pleaded Blue, reaching out hesitantly as Pearl fled the hall, the heavy oak doors slamming shut after her. All eyes were on them, before students nervously fell back into conversation with one another, this time in hushed whispers. Yellow trudged back over to her seat and sat down opposite Blue, staring down at her plate numbly.

“She saw us,” she whispered. “She saw us kissing, Blue. Fuck.”

 

…

 

Next time Yellow managed to corner Pearl, it was on Christmas eve. The professors that had stayed on for the holidays had arranged a Christmas party for the remaining students, and the moment that Blue and Yellow had arrived, it was clear that Pearl had decided not to show up. Well, enough was enough, Yellow decided.

The dance was awkward, to say the least. There had been some romantic tension between them ever since they kissed, that hadn't really been resolved since the conflict with Pearl had emerged so shortly after. The punch was too sweet, the music too loud, the dance floor too empty. After dancing uncomfortably to a few slow songs, Yellow spoke up.

“I need to go to the bathroom, Blue. Think you can survive without me?”

Blue offered her a smile that didn't meet her eyes, carefully pinned back hair betraying her uncertainty.

“Sure. I'll be over by the refreshments, okay?”

Yellow gave her arm the gentlest of touches; lingering, telling her _I'll be back_ before releasing her hold. Blue exhaled, soft and sweet, and Yellow turned, briskly leaving the hall. Instead of going to the bathrooms, however, she continued to climb, up, up, to the astronomy tower that was usually devoid of students when classes ended for the break. Her suspicions were confirmed when she tried the handle and the door swung right open. She took a few steps forward, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.

Pearl wasn't dressed for the party, instead in a simple sweater and skirt set, with thick winter tights tucked into ankle boots, like she always liked to wear in the colder months. She was sat right on the edge, overlooking the powdered turrets of the castle, the frozen lake, the icy Scottish hills that surrounded them and stretched out for miles. In her hand was a cigarette, glowing a dim auburn in the pitch dark.

“I didn't know you smoked.”

Pearl almost jumped out of her skin, and clung to the sides of the roof to keep her balance. She whirled around and glared when she spied Yellow ambling towards her, looking out of place in a thin golden dress and kitten heels.

“Can't you just leave me alone?”

“What's the point in staying mad at us?” Yellow asked bluntly. “You're having a terrible time, you're _smoking_ your problems away, and anyone else who found you up here dangling from the edge would put you on suicide watch in a heartbeat. I don't even know why you're so pissed, you've never been opposed to same-sex couples.”

Pearl's mouth fell open, and then promptly shut again. She turned away and took a drag, exhaling with a heavy puff of dragon smoke. After a few moments of silence, she muttered, “So you guys really are a couple.”

“No, we're not.” Yellow sat beside her, not caring that she'd likely end up with damp grime on her butt when she came to stand again. “Look, I know you saw us kiss. We don't really know what to make of it, to be honest. We were just going to see how it played out, but then you started acting weird, and now it's just awkward for everybody. So congratulations, if your goal was to keep us from sorting our shit out you succeeded.”

“No, cause god forbid it isn't about you for one second!” Pearl folded her arms and stubbed out her cigarette against the side of the castle. “Why do you two get to be happy and have it all figured out? I'm spending night after night lying awake _hating myself,_ and you two can just laugh it off and carry on like, like it doesn't mean anything when it obviously does!!”

“You're doing a pretty good job making it about yourself, you know,” Yellow countered snidely, then stopped. “Wait. Are you saying you think you're gay?”

“Oh, please, like you didn't know!” Pearl's voice rose, like it always did when she was on the verge of crying. “It feels like everybody else knows! Blue's always tiptoeing around the subject, the boys in my classes keep writing 'lesbo' on my desk... even Rose told me I was coming on too strong, fuck!” She buried her head in her hands.

“Rose Quartz said that?” Ooh, Yellow was beyond pissed off now, even if she was mad at Pearl too. She'd be sure to give Rose Quartz a piece of her mind the moment she stepped foot back in Hogwarts. “The nerve of – I'll fuck her up, just you wait-”

“Stop it, it's not like that. Rose and Garnet... they're in a relationship, you know? That's why I started hanging out with them, to be closer to them, to try and understand myself. I – I feel so awful inside, like it's something I can dispel if I reject it long enough, but I thought maybe if I threw myself into duelling I'd be able to distract myself, and learn from them at the same time, but it only made me infatuated with this idea of a perfect lesbian love, and maybe if I became enough like them it would happen for me too, but... but now it doesn't even matter, because...”

She lowered her head and let out a sigh, sniffling. “I don't even know why I'm telling you this. I'm still mad. I just... seeing you two kissing... I was so hurt.”

Yellow grabbed her shoulder. “Listen to me. Me and Blue have told you so many times that there is nothing wrong with you! And I wouldn't take Rose Quartz and Garnet Aberra's cookie cutter lesbian grunge fairytale as inspiration if I were you. Teenage love is messy and full of drama, and for some reason magic and schoolgirl revolutions just amplifies the drama tenfold. Believe me, you're looking in the wrong place for idealistic love, because there's is unreachable by the average witch. Sorry.”

Pearl looked up at her, tears rolling steadily down her cheeks, and something overwhelming bloomed in Yellow's chest. She brought Pearl into a hug, ignoring the nagging voice in her head that berated _she's still mad at you and you're still mad at her, she's a little shit for pulling stunts like this and trying to cry her way out of it._ Because fuck that voice. Both of them were hurting in their own ways, and it was better to get it out in the air before their fight stagnated further, in Yellow's opinion.

“Look, I... I meant what I said, you know. Blue and I haven't acted on what happened since that day, and we still haven't made anything official because without you it just feels empty, like something's missing. The three of us have always been together, I... it feels silly, it sound ludicrous, but I guess part of me wants you to be a part of this too, all this figuring out and getting confused and junk.”

Pearl buried her head in Yellow's shoulder, mumbled something unintelligible, tears wet against her skin.

Yellow frowned. “Say that again?”

Pearl sniffled, and big wet eyes peered up at Yellow.

“I need to tell you something... b-but I've already caused so many problems for both of you...”

Something about Pearl taking all of the blame (even if it was true in many unfortunate ways) made Yellow's chest constrict painfully.

“Don't. You've been dealing with a lot of shit, it... it's not your fault. Please, tell me.”

Pearl took a few deep breaths, trying to steady her tears.

“I... I know you two don't like Rose because of how I've been acting since meeting her, but it's not what you think. I, I was infatuated with her, but, I don't love her. I thought I did at first, but the more time I spent apart from you two, I knew it wasn't anything more than a pointless crush.” She shut her eyes again. “This is so stupid.”

“No, it's not,” Yellow said sharply. “Keep going, I'm listening.”

Pearl remained silent for a few moments, before whispering, “I really like Blue.”

Oh. Well, Yellow wasn't expecting that. (Not entirely, anyway. She'd had an inkling, of course, but wondering and knowing were two completely different things.) Heavy unease built in her chest. Was it really jealousy? After all of those opportunities she'd had to step forward – after how she felt about Blue – was she really so petty?

“Oh. I... don't know what to say. If you really like her then you should tell her, I mean, before-”

“But I really like you too.”

Yellow froze.

“You... what?”

Pearl shifted uncomfortably, face a rich pink both from the biting cold and from the awkwardness of the situation she'd just placed herself in.

“I like b-both of you. I don't know what that makes me, if it means I'm, I'm being greedy or I don't know what I want, but... that's how I feel. That's why, when I saw you two kissing...”

“You felt left out,” Yellow finished for her, losing her fingers in Pearl's hair as her mind raced with this abundance of new information. “You felt rejected twofold.”

“Yeah.” Pearl sighed heavily. “I'm so stupid. I ruined everything.”

“You keep saying that,” Yellow said tiredly, “but it isn't true. This was all a useless misunderstanding that got out of hand, but, we should have handled it better too. I don't know about Blue, but I had no idea that the three of us were so mixed up about the whole kissing thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean...” Yellow rubbed the back of her head, staring up at the moon overhead, waxy and illuminating. She was sure Pearl could hear her heart drumming away, attempting to launch itself from her chest and over the side of the castle. “How do I put this... you... aren't the only one who's got a crush on Blue, but, I... have a crush on you...? I can't speak for Blue, but... I see the way she looks at you, like you've given her the world. It's kind of – kind of how she looks at me too.”

Now it was Pearl's turn to fall uncomfortably silent, trying to process what Yellow had just said. The overlapping feelings were making her head swim.

Finally, she murmured, “This is so strange. What... what do we do now?”

That was a good question. Yellow hugged Pearl a little closer, resting her chin on the top of her head, and uttered, “I don't know. We'll figure it out. We always do.”

They sat there for a little while in a bewildered silence, trying to wrap their heads around the situation they had found themselves in, until it became too cold to bear. Apologies were uttered, and that was that.

When Yellow finally returned to the dance, immediately finding Blue half-asleep beside the refreshments table, awaiting her return, Pearl was at her side. The three of them danced until their feet ached, and fell asleep curled up in the Hufflepuff common room, with Pearl sandwiched comfortably between Blue and Yellow, who exchanged glances that held so many questions (yet so many that already were brimming with possible answers, solutions) before drifting off into an easy slumber.

Christmas was spent relatively peacefully after that.

 

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think!!!! and next chapter will feature peridot and some polypearls on valentines day~


End file.
